Thousands of American citizens have been torn from their country and from everying dear to them: they have been dragged on board ships of ward of a foreign nation. -Madison, 1 June 1812

1956

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Lawrence depicts a menacing officer of the British Royal Navy lording over American sailors whom British forces have captured, bound, and injured. Despite their physical bulk and apparent heroic strength, the men bow their heads in subordination to their oppressive new commander. Lawrence’s subject focuses on a practice known as impressment, in which British naval forces would seize and force American sailors and merchant seamen into service for Great Britain. The artist undoubtedly associated this brutal practice with the dehumanizing and painful conditions of chattel slavery. President James Madison argued that impressment was a justifiable pretext for war in his June 1, 1812, appeal to Congress, which Lawrence excerpted for this panel’s title caption. The official declaration of the War of 1812 followed seventeen days later.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Thousands of American citizens have been torn from their country and from everying dear to them: they have been dragged on board ships of ward of a foreign nation. -Madison, 1 June 1812
Artist: Jacob Lawrence (American, Atlantic City, New Jersey 1917–2000 Seattle, Washington)
Date: 1956
Medium: Egg tempera on hardboard
Dimensions: 16 × 12 in. (40.6 × 30.5 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art